Rockstar awards showcase our rockstar dairy industry

The only shame about last Friday’s 2014 New Zealand
Dairy Awards, at Auckland’s SkyCity, was the absence of
the dairying’s most ardent critics. Instead it was the
perfect showcase for the capability and dynamism of New
Zealand’s leading export industry.

“I can
forgive the print media as the Canon Awards were on the same
night and the media at our industry’s event got to see
dairying in its dynamic reality. Special thanks must go to
the brilliant MC Mike McRoberts but especially the New
Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Trust,” says Willy Leferink,
Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson.

“I honestly
thought there would have been more than one Member of
Parliament present but as MP’s go, the Minister for
Primary Industries is a very big fish indeed.

“After the awards I saw one political party leader in
a debate label-dairy low value. There is no way you could
hold those views if he’d attended these awards. That’s
the problem we have. There are some who won’t risk
shaking their beliefs by opening their eyes.

“As a
farming leader and as farmers, we get a few raspberries
chucked at us but that makes you look in the mirror.

“Being close to this competition, which Federated
Farmers started 25 years ago, I know the 2014 winners are
really first among equals.

“Take Taranaki’s
super talented Charlie and Jody McCaig. They have gone from
being Taranaki Farm manager winners in 2011 to become 2014
New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year.

“They also took out a heap of merit awards along the
way and their health & safety focus is industry leading.
They are genuine talent with the skills, talent and aptitude
to take the industry forward. As members Federated Farmers
is very proud of them.

“How about Ruth Hone who
became the first ever woman to lift Dairy Trainee of the
Year. She is smart, capable and adaptable and those words
sum up the dairy industry in 2014. In fact, of the 11 dairy
trainee finalists, five were women.

“Then you’ve
got 27 year old Nick Bertram who was named 2014 Farm Manager
of the Year. He came into dairy with a background in
accounting thanks to his teacher dad, but no farming
experience. His win highlighted others who’d joined
dairying from fields as diverse as professional rugby,
hospitality, engineering and the police.

“We are
an inclusive open industry where merit and work ethic speaks
loudly and is rewarded. We’ll be showing everyone just
what those rewards are in the 2014 Rabobank/Federated
Farmers Farm Remuneration Report shortly.

“While
these awards do have winners it is really the industry that
wins. There are no bruised egos or heckling but a genuine
celebration and desire to lift the entire industry ever
higher,” Mr Leferink concluded.

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